JTB implements new campaign to boost upward trend
published: Saturday | January 11, 2003
THE JAMAICA Tourist Board (JTB) has implemented a US$4.1 million overseas advertising campaign for the winter tourist season, to bolster, what it claims, was an upward trend in visitor arrivals since 2003.
According to the JTB, preliminary airport arrival figures show that, for the two weeks since the start of the winter season, December 15, stop-over arrivals were 26.5 per cent above arrival figures recorded in 2001 and 10 cent above those in the record-breaking year, 2000.
Also, figures for the first week of the new year indicate that the number of stopover visitors has improved by 15 per cent and 34 per cent, respectively, from the corresponding periods in 2002 and 2001.
"The start of the winter has been very encouraging," said JTB chairman, Dennis Morrison.
The new campaign, intended to "build on the momentum" of the board's Fall advertising, began earlier this week with television spots on major networks in the USA and will spread to Europe on January 16.
Dr. Wykeham McNeill, Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, noted that already there was an improvement in visitor arrivals from Europe and attributed it to recent months of increased advertising and promotional efforts, along with developments such as the return of the Dutch airline, Martinair, and a weekly charter flight service from Italy.
